The pair spent the rest of the afternoon just eating, relaxing and watching whatever was on T.V. Neither wanted to talk about their pasts for the moment so mostly they just stayed silent, stretching out on Buffy's bed. They also remained in the same position they had been in earlier, Faith's arm around Buffy's shoulders with Buffy leaning her head on Faith's shoulder.

Buffy finally broke the silence. "Hey Faith?"

"Yeah, B?"

She lifted her head off the brunette's shoulder and faced her. "There's still a couple things we need to talk about."

Faith closed her eyes and rubbed the side of her face. "Yeah, I guess we do."

Buffy sat up and crossed her legs underneath her, a look of determination on her face once again. "Why did you come to Sunnydale?"

Faith sighed. "I just saw my watcher get slaughtered and the vamp who did it was after me. I didn't want to admit it, but I knew I needed help. I knew where you were and figured, what the hell, two slayers had to be better than one, right?"

"Why didn't you just come out and say that when we first met?"

"In case you hadn't noticed," Faith smirked slightly, "I have a problem with asking for help. I didn't want to seem weak." She looked down. "I had been weak for so long, B."

Buffy put a hand on Faith's shoulder. "It wouldn't have made you weak to me. I mean, I've had help for years. I think it's the reason I've stayed alive this long."

"Well, I didn't have anyone helping me."

The blonde ignored her comment. "Okay, so I know why you came to Sunnydale. What about how you acted after that deal with the fake watcher?"

"I thought you screwed me over, B. I wasn't in the loop for any of what went down. No one told me about Angel and you didn't explain it to me until it was too late. In a way, you chose Angel over me," Faith summed up.

Buffy nodded. "I can see how you would think that, but I never chose him over you. I was just caught up in him coming back. It was too much for me," she said and took a breath. "I wanted you to trust me, but I guess I never gave you a reason to. Why didn't you say anything when I went to your motel room after that night?"

"Same reason. I was pissed that no one cared enough to tell me what was going on. I felt like everyone only talked to me when the world was ending. I was just the second-string slayer."

Buffy frowned. "You weren't to me. I guess I didn't try hard enough to make sure you knew that."

"No, you didn't," Faith responded quietly.

Buffy looked up to see Faith's eyes were starting to well up. She thought they better keep going so they didn't have to go through everything all over again. "What about Alan?" she said softly, her hand still on Faith's shoulder.

Faith took a deep breath and a tear rolled down her cheek. She refused to look at Buffy. "I don't know what happened, B. One moment I think I'm going for a vamp, the next there's blood coming out of that guy's chest." She stopped and sniffled so quietly Buffy could barely her it. "I didn't mean to kill him. It was an accident."

"I know," Buffy put her arm around Faith and pulled her closer to her. "Why didn't you say that?"

"I thought you would turn on me," Faith said quietly. "Everyone always had and in my mind, you already had once before."

"I just wanted to help you."

"I know that now," Faith continued, "but the cops got involved and I thought you'd turn me in and leave me to rot. I was sorry, B, I just didn't know how to say it. I didn't know what the response would be."

Buffy thought for a moment. "I guess I really don't know what my response would have been either. I'm so different now I don't know what I'd say to you."

"I'd have been given to the council," Faith finally looked up at Buffy. "Wes sent them after me, remember?"

Buffy sighed. "We didn't tell him, Faith. He was eavesdropping. Giles would have never given you to them. He didn't work for them anymore and after what they had done to me, I never would have let them have you."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely," Buffy nodded. "I just wanted you to admit you cared about what happened."

"I did," Faith said quietly, "I didn't know how to admit it." She took a couple deep breaths and made eye contact with Buffy. "After that, I decided good just wasn't for me. I couldn't do it right so I thought switching sides was the best for me, that maybe I could find the acceptance I was looking for."

"And the mayor gave you that," Buffy concluded.

Faith nodded. "He appreciated me. Sure, he appreciated me because I was good at beating people up and... killing, but still..." she concluded and eyed the blonde for a reaction.

Buffy tried to process what Faith had just told her and looked away from Faith's penetrating gaze. Finally, she looked up at the younger slayer and shocked her by pulling her into a hug. "So you did all those things to me and the gang because we never helped you get over Alan?" Feeling Faith nod against her shoulder, she brought a hand up and into dark brown hair, holding her head against her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Faith."

Faith started to cry against Buffy's shoulder. "I'm the one who's sorry, B. I'll always be sorry."

Buffy let Faith cry, stroking her hand through her hair, tears falling her eyes as well. After a few minutes, she moved the young slayer's head off her shoulder and in front of her so she could look her in the eye.

"I know you're sorry, Faith," she said easily, "even though I was too stubborn to admit it, I knew that back when I first went after you in L.A." She gently wiped the tears off Faith's cheek. "I was too angry to say anything."

"I wish you had," Faith responded. "I hoped you would have seen how much I wanted to prove myself to you. I turned myself in because you told me to."

Buffy looked at her in astonishment. "That's the only reason why?"

Faith nodded. "I didn't know what else to do. I'm not sure what Angel had in mind. I was too messed up to think about it. So when you said I should turn myself in, saying that was how I could take responsibility for what I did, I decided to do that. I was hoping I could make things right with you someday."

"I wish you would have told me this sooner," Buffy said, still sitting in front of Faith, "not that I would have listened to you then. But looking back, I probably should have supported you more."

"You had your own deal in Sunnydale," Faith said and got a small smile on her face, "what with you dying and all."

Buffy laughed as both women slowly stopped crying. "True," she said and paused, then looked at Faith with a grin. "You know what? I'm sorry, you're sorry, let's just move on from that. Maybe we can get into detail later, but right now I'm getting hungry again." She looked over at the clock. "And it's late. We're not gonna see any of Boston, are we?"

"We got plenty of time, B," Faith said and gave Buffy another hug. "I really am sorry," she said, still thinking Buffy really didn't believe her.

"I know."

******

The two slayers ate, showered and continued to just lounge around the room. They were watching a TV show neither one of them could recognize when the phone rang. Both looked at each other curiously.

"Well, it can't be the staff," Faith said. "We order food every few hours so they definitely know we're alive in here."

"I'm betting it's Giles," Buffy said and walked over to the phone. "He's probably worried we haven't checked in. Or it could be Willow calling because Xander's been nagging insisting you killed me and went AWOL."

Faith made no move to get up from where she was, lying in Buffy's bed. She watched as Buffy answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Buffy, it's good to hear your voice," Willow said, sounding as cheery and nervous as possible.

Buffy looked over at Faith and mouthed Willow to her. "Hey, Will," she said into the phone. "You realize it's a little early to be checking up on us. Faith wouldn't have much of a chance to have her way with me yet," she laughed and looked over to see Faith nearly choke on the water she was drinking. She could practically feel Willow's blush over the phone.

"N-No, Buffy," she tried her best not to stutter, "we don't think that. W-We just wanted to see how things were going."

"Will, it's been two days," Buffy said, "we haven't even been outside of the room."

"Why not?" Willow asked. "What could you possibly be doing?"

Buffy thought of a couple things they could be doing, but shook the thoughts away. Instead, she whispered into the phone, "We've been discussing things, sorting out all the bad memories." She turned away from Faith who, getting the hint, walked into the bathroom. "She's opening up to me, Will. I'm seeing this whole new side of her."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Yes, it is," Buffy stated with authority. "It just feels so good to be around her right now. She's let down all her walls and we're getting to know each other now, without all the drama."

Willow was silent a few seconds before speaking. "That is good, Buffy. I, well Xander and I want to make sure you didn't make any hasty decisions. I just hope you're doing the right thing."

"I know I am," Buffy said, looking toward the bathroom as Faith walked back into the room. Buffy motioned for Faith to stay when it looked like she was going to leave the room again. "Is everyone else okay? How's Dawn?"

"Everyone's good. I think Giles is losing his mind handling all these teenagers," Willow laughed. "Dawn has decided to learn how to be a watcher when she's done with school. She's not here right now, but I'm sure she'll give you a call later."

"That's great," Buffy said happily, "tell everyone I miss them and we'll call as soon as anything big happens. Tell Dawn to call me."

"Okay, Buffy," Willow responded. "Bye."

"Bye, Will," Buffy hung up and turned to Faith. "Unless it's Dawn, I hope we don't have any more of those interruptions."

"How is everyone?" Faith sat on Buffy's bed and looked up at the blonde.

"Fine," Buffy smiled at her, "Dawn has decided to be a watcher."

Faith laughed. "I guess she has to learn to be all stuffy then."

"Well, she has Giles helping her so it shouldn't be too hard."

The two shared a laugh and Buffy went back to down Faith, sitting on the bed. "I'm sure Giles could teach her that."

The two of them laughed for awhile at the situation before Faith got serious again. "What did Willow want anyway?"

"To check up on us," Buffy smiled, "and I was kinda right. Xander did put her up to it."

Faith frowned. "They thought I had hurt you?"

Buffy sighed and stood up, walking to the other side of the room. "I don't know what they thought. Will was just really nervous over the phone, like she didn't like asking me that. Maybe she thought I would be upset about them second-guessing my judgment."

Still frowning, Faith looked at her, "What did you say to her?"

"Basically, that you wouldn't do that," Buffy said carefully, trying to think of the right thing to say. She sighed again, "I just said we were sorting everything out." She looked intently at Faith, hoping that was a good enough explanation.

"Oh," Faith looked down.

"Faith?" Buffy questioned her, a little concerned. "Is something wrong?"

The brunette furrowed her brow, eyes still looking down. "It's nothing. I just wish they didn't feel the need to call at all."

"Give them time," Buffy walked over to where Faith was sitting, "they'll get used to the new and improved Faith. I know I am and I like her more than ever."

Faith looked up and grinned. "I'm not that improved, you know," she responded, lifting an eyebrow.

Buffy narrowed her eyes but a smirk came across her face. "Why what do you mean by that, Faith?"

"Oh, nothing," Faith got up and tried to shrug off Buffy's question but didn't do a very good job of it. Before the blonde to ask her anything else, however, Faith grabbed hold of her around her waist and jumped backwards, throwing both of them on Buffy's bed behind her. She rolled so Buffy was on her back and Faith straddled her waist.

Buffy's eyes went wide as Faith pinned her hands over her head with one of her own and the other tickled her. "Ah! Faith, knock it off!" she couldn't help but laugh even as she protested, especially with the young slayer above her looking so beautiful and carefree.

"Only if you admit I'm stronger, B," Faith continued to grin and chuckled as Buffy struggled to get out of the hold she had her in.

"Never!" Buffy grunted as she tried to concentrate on getting out from under Faith and not on the tickling she was receiving. She bucked her hips, coming into intimate contact with the brunette and could have sworn Faith bit her lip to stop a moan. She did not stop tickling however, and she had no choice but to give in. She couldn't get out of the hold.

"Okay, okay! I give, I give!" she yelled, still laughing. Faith loosened her grip on her hands but didn't let go. She leaned closer to Buffy's face.

"See, I am stronger than you," she said and leaned in to within an inch of Buffy's face. Before Buffy realized, she lightly brushed the blonde's lips with her own.

Faith pulled back as fast as she had leaned in and stared at Buffy wide-eyed, letting go of her hands. "Oh God, B, I'm sorry." She moved to get off of the older slayer, but Buffy placed her hands on her sides, stopping her.

"It's okay, Faith," she said quietly and sat up with Faith now straddling her legs. She moved her hands up to the brunette's shocked face and caressed her cheek before closing the distance between them and placed a soft kiss on the brunette's lips.

Faith's mind shut down at Buffy's reaction, unable to comprehend what was going on. She had always had an attraction to the blonde but just assumed Buffy wouldn't be interested and got over it. She very cautiously placed her hands on Buffy's back and slowly responded to the kiss she was receiving.

They broke apart easily and Faith rested her forehead against the blonde's. "B, what's going on?"

"I don't know, Faith," Buffy said, not knowing what else to say. She had always wondered about whether or not Faith was interested in women as much as men, but now she definitely had her answer. "All I know is, I want to do that again."

Buffy put her hand on the young slayer's head and gently pulled her to her once again. Faith knew it was okay to respond now and wrapped her arms tighter around Buffy's back as she pressed her lips to the blonde's.

They kissed softly at first, both not knowing how far the other wanted to go. Buffy finally decided to pick up the pace and ran her tongue along Faith's lower lip and smiled when the dark slayer opened her mouth, allowing Buffy to enter and slide her tongue against her own.

Finally breaking apart for air after the pair had explored each other's mouths, Faith pulled Buffy as close to her as possible, burying her face in the woman's soft blonde hair. Buffy ran her hands through Faith's hair, hoping she wasn't having any regrets.

"Faith?" she said, trying not to sound nervous. "What are you thinking?" Faith mumbled something against her neck but Buffy couldn't hear her. She moved out of the younger woman's embrace and looked her in the eye. "Are you okay?"

Faith looked almost sad, but seemed to be ecstatic at the same time. "What just happened?"

"I don't know," Buffy said again, still not knowing how else to respond. It was too late for this conversation. "Let's get some sleep and talk about it in the morning."

She moved to get up and Faith got off her and stood next to the bed. Buffy stood as well and moved to get under the covers and noticed Faith hadn't moved. She looked up at her curiously.

"Can I sleep with you?" she asked nervously and by the way she said it, Buffy knew she wasn't thinking of anything other than actual sleep.

Buffy didn't say anything, just padded the spot next to her and Faith slowly got into bed next to her. She wrapped her arms around Faith as they both drifted off to sleep, neither knowing what was going to happen in the morning.

******

Faith slowly woke up early the next morning with the feel of a head resting on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and let them wander around the room and instantly realized where she was and who was next to her. She moved from resting on her back to her side and looked over at the woman sleeping next to her.

She looked at Buffy sleeping so peacefully as she remembered the kiss they shared last night. Since they hadn't talked about it, Faith had no idea what the older slayer even thought about it and that was driving her crazy. The brunette had never seriously thought of being with Buffy this way, but now she wanted it all.

Faith leaned down and gently kissed Buffy on the cheek, pulled her closer. She rested her head atop the other woman's and watched her sleep, waiting for her to wake up.

Buffy's eyes fluttered open a few minutes later and looked up to see Faith watching over her. "Good morning," she said groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"Morning, B," Faith said and cautiously leaned down, kissing Buffy quickly on the lips.

Buffy smiled against Faith's lips and wrapped her arms around the brunette as the other woman pulled away and leaned her chin against her shoulder. "Faith?"

Faith pulled out of Buffy's embrace to face her. "Yeah, B?"

"I hope you don't think any of this was a mistake 'cause I don't," she took a breath. "Then again, you probably wouldn't have kissed me this morning if you did, but I just need to be sure if..."

Faith stopped her by cupping the side of her face with her palm, moving her thumb across the blonde's lips. "I don't, B. I'm just more than shocked that it happened."

"So you don't regret it?"

Faith smiled. "Never."

Buffy smiled back. "Good," she responded and reached up to pull Faith down to her. Neither kissed cautiously this time and soon their tongues began to explore each other's mouths. Faith's hands cupped Buffy's face while hers moved up and down the young slayer's back.

They broke for air and Buffy ran her hand through long dark hair as Faith rested on her side. "Wow," she said trying to slow her breathing and moved so she was resting on her side as well and could face Faith.

"Yeah," was all the brunette could say as her hand rested on Buffy's side. She looked at Buffy intently. "B, what's going on?"

Buffy looked down, her hand moving down to draw patterns on Faith stomach. "I'm attracted to you, Faith. I kinda always have been, but... well, you scare the shit out of me."

Faith laughed. "At least you finally admit it."

Buffy swatted her lightly. "That's not what I meant and you know it," she narrowed her eyes jokingly. "I mean, you were always 'get some, got gone'. I'm not like that. I always thought if I ever took the chance and tried to see if you were interested, it would just be a one night stand. That's not what I would have wanted, I wanted more." She paused and smirked at her. "Besides the fact that I wanted to be unbelievingly straight."

Faith laughed again and moved her hand up to caress the blonde's face. "So let me get this straight," she chuckled at the pun, "you were interested back then and you never said anything." Buffy nodded lightly. "But B, I flirted with you constantly."

"'Get some, get gone', Faith," Buffy reminded her.

"Oh," Faith thought for a minute. "That would have ended if you had said something, but of course, you had no way to know that."

"That's right," Buffy agreed. "Then there was Angel."

"God, I hated him then," Faith thought back. "I really didn't know why at the time, but it was probably because you spent less time with me because of him."

"Yeah, he was my safe choice," Buffy said, looking into her eyes, "you would have been the more dangerous option. Let's face it, you have more curves than the average guy," she grinned and lifted an eyebrow at the other woman.

"I'm not the only one," Faith grinned back. "So we could have gotten together way back when?"

"I suppose we could have," Buffy nodded then smirked at her. "I guess this means we have a lot of kissing to catch up on."

"Hmm, I guess it does," Faith grinned, flashing the blonde her dimples and leaned down to her, pushing her lips onto Buffy's. She pushed her tongue into the blonde's mouth, seeking out her tongue and massaging it with her own.

Buffy moaned into the kiss and pulled Faith as close to her as possible. They wrapped their arms around each other as Faith broke away from the blonde's mouth. She placed kisses along the older slayer's jaw line to her ear, softly kissing her there.

"God, Faith," Buffy groaned as she moved her hands up and down Faith's back. After a minute of Faith's kisses, she slowly pulled away from the dark slayer.

"B?" Faith questioned her with a confused look on her face.

"Faith, I don't think I'm ready for anything more yet," she said carefully. "I want to know more about you."

Faith smiled. "Shit, B, you had me scared there," she chuckled and Buffy reached to her, running her fingers over the brunette's dimples that were once again showing. She leaned into the touch. "Let's get ready for the day, have some food and you can ask me anything."

"Deal."

******

The two slayers spent the next couple hours in relative silence. They each got up and showered, Buffy ordering food this time, and ate without any major discussion. Buffy spent her time admiring Faith. She looked so young and beautiful, more so than back in Sunnydale.

Faith noticed Buffy looking her over and smiled. "So B, what do you want to know about me? We've covered all the major subjects."

"Well, I don't know," Buffy smiled and laid down on Faith's bed, which now had clean sheets. The pair had a maid bring them and they made the bed themselves.

Faith moved from the table and laid down next to Buffy, turning on her side to face her. "Come on, B. You said you wanted to get to know me better. Ask away."

Buffy smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, tracing patterns with her fingers. "Did you feel anything when you were in a coma?"

The brunette thought for a few seconds, one hand behind her head, the other on Buffy's thigh. "I remember a few dreams here and there, but mostly there's just nothing. It didn't even seem that long, like I was just in a real deep sleep. The only difference was when I woke up I felt so... weak."

"What were the dreams about?" Buffy asked. "Were they the slayer dreams we shared?"

Faith nodded. "Some of them were. Deep down I knew I had to help you and somehow I just dreamed what I should tell you, hopefully to hint at what the Boss... the Mayor's weakness was. I didn't know that you were really there, really with me in the dream."

"It did help, you know. I used what you told me to kill him."

"I know," Faith answered, looking into Buffy's eyes.

"What were the other dreams about?"

"They were nightmares, B. You were in them, in every one of them. We would be doing everyday things and all of a sudden, the knife was there in your hand. We both would look down at it and at each other and then you would stab me, right in the stomach. Every time."

Buffy's eyes started to tear up and she reached down to Faith's stomach, touching her scar. She traced it with her fingers then hugged the young slayer, kissing her neck.

"Faith, I'm so sorry. I didn't think I had any other choice," Buffy said, a few stray tears falling down her cheeks.

"B, it's okay. I don't think you had any other choice," Faith whispered into Buffy's ear. "I was so messed up if you didn't stab me, I might have killed you."

"Well, then me stabbing you was a good thing," Buffy said sarcastically and moved away from Faith to look at her again. "I didn't want to."

"I know," Faith smiled at her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "What's your next question?"

"I don't know if you want to talk about it," Buffy said shyly. "You snapped at me about it earlier."

"Well, that was before you came onto me," Faith laughed.

"I think it was you who came onto me," Buffy clarified, "but I'm so glad you did." She cupped her face and brushed her lips softly against Faith's.

Faith smiled. "Stop avoiding the topic here, B. What's the question?"

Buffy took a deep breath. "How bad was prison?"

Faith shrugged. "It was prison. I'm not sure how to describe it."

"Try."

"Okay," Faith looked up and down the blonde's body, trying to think on what to say. "First off, it wasn't like any of those 'women in prison' movies. I wasn't anyone's bitch."

Buffy laughed. "I was thinking it would be the other way around."

"I wasn't into that, B," Faith said. "I tried my best to keep to myself. Oddly enough, rumors about me had reached the prison before I even got there. Everyone thought I was able to kill anyone I wanted, whenever I wanted, which was true but I didn't want to kill anymore. Some inmates tried to prove themselves by testing me, but I only used enough force to stop them."

She stopped and took a breath. "The worst really were some of the asshole guards. After awhile, they knew I wouldn't fight back and a couple times beat the shit out of me. I don't remember why, they just did it. I think at the time they thought I was hiding contraband or something, but I got kicked around anyway."

"Was it like that the entire time?"

"Nah," Faith shook her head, "only the first couple months. I think they saw I was just trying to do my time and then left me alone. They also knew I would only act out in self-defense so toward the end, I didn't have all that bad a time. But it was still prison. It just plain sucked."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "So no sex in prison then?"

"Not one time," Faith grinned. "Not like I didn't have the opportunity 'cause remember, I'm wicked hot."

"No argument here," Buffy giggled. "Not at all?"

"Wasn't interested," Faith looked at her with sincerity.

Buffy got a wicked grin on her face. "Have you ever had sex with a girl?"

"No, B," Faith moved her arm around Buffy's back and pulled her closer. "I've only ever wanted to with you."

The blonde looked at her wide-eyed as her fingers moved over Faith's face. "Really?"

"Yeah," Faith said, "as soon as I met you, you were everything to me. I used guys to get off, to deal with the 'hungry and horny' thing, but all I wanted was you. Even if it was for just one night, even if you regretted it in the morning."

"I wouldn't have," Buffy smiled. She kissed Faith and opened her mouth slightly to let Faith's tongue slip between her lips and rub against her own. She lightly sucked on the other woman's tongue, only stopping when she needed to breathe.

Faith kissed her cheek before pulling away and smirked. "So, B, no girl-on-girl action before now?"

Buffy playfully narrowed her eyes. "I think you know the answer to that but I might as well repeat it for you. No, never before. The only time I ever thought about it was when I met you. I mean, let's face it: you're wicked hot," she laughed.

Faith pulled Buffy closer once again. "So are you, baby," she smiled at her, leaning down to kiss her neck and moving up to her ear. Buffy moaned softly, loving the feel of Faith's lips on her.

"That feels so good, Faith," Buffy groaned quietly as Faith sucked an earlobe into her mouth, licking at the same time.

"I'll go as far as you want me to, Buffy," Faith whispered to her, kissing her softly behind her ear.

Buffy stopped her and pulled away to look at a very confused Faith. "You just called me Buffy," she looked at her, a little shocked. "You almost never call me Buffy."

"It seemed like an appropriate time," Faith shrugged. "It's kind of a serious situation, you know. I want you to know I mean everything I say now."

"I know you do," Buffy responded and a wave a nervousness overcame her. "I'm scared, Faith."

"Of me?"

"No," she said strongly then looked into Faith's eyes, "of this." She motioned to their current situation.

"I'm not going to rush you, B," she said, caressing Buffy's face with her palm. "I want you to be sure."

"Thank you," Buffy hugged her tightly.